Happy as a schoolie on the first day of classes, I rushed to the Mosquito Lot for the meet up. Councilman fielded phone calls and counted riders, trying to minimize drivers in spite of Cap'n's threat that he may short taco.We assembled as 8 at the Knott Lot, and received a send off from NoHandle and Mrs., who were enjoying an evening of childless bliss. Cappy repeated, "where should we ride tonight?" When he heard the suggestion of Cappy's cache, his eyes twinkled eagerly and we headed out the back to the horse trail drop below the dam and up to MET. At this early juncture we had a first incident of Too-far-off-the-back-to-see-the-pack and our ride leader took the necessary precaution of reminding all of proper etiquette.
We followed the trails nearest MET. At the top of the downhiller run (Chiquita banana) we waited for stragglers and B passed around snacks. On to the top of the lips, then we hit the road. Cappy gave a callout to grab a wheel. Those who knew what was following quickly lined up. Others were promptly dropped as the paceline picked up speed. At one point Bambi made a textbook attack, but the ride leader was not to be drawn in to such antics and maintained his pace at the front of the line. Regrouping at the turn-off onto dirt, a couple riders rolled back to check on the last rider and avoid becoming mosquito bait. All-in we sped down the dusty logging road and then churned up the steep gravely pitch on the other side. At the top of this climb Cappy made a clever wrong turn, giving the front of the pack a little out and back as a delay tactic.
The exhilaration of the cache can not be overstated. The trail keeps getting narrower and steeper, and then, around a sudden corner, it drops over an uncompromising rock face. Bambi had to ride the last bit twice. It's that fun. At the end of the trail we burst into a campsite. The campers thought they were at the end of the road, and their eyes just about popped when they saw our whole peleton emerge from the woods.
Bonetti to MET to the top of the lips, where I got to cathartically retrace the route where I performed my non-compliant dismount, so many weeks ago. Not satisfied that all the lessons of that trail had been learned, we then did a full lip loop. Back at the lake, we heard that Peter might show up if we rode too much longer. So back towards tacos, hitting the horse trails for good measure, and pointing out our "ripped calves" as we "danced on the pedals" the whole way.
We picked up the last bit of trail around the lake, and stopped for a refreshing dip. Bambi, dreading the alarm clock, headed for bed. EID patrol rolled up, politely dimming his lights and not exposing the swimmers. We were in a day-use area, and it was no longer day time. With no intention of lingering, we headed for the much anticipated taco session.
The fire crackled, the meat dripped grease, the taco bitties mercilessly teased B, and the scouts (OT and T2) earned Knott Hole t-shirts.
Excellent RR, NoCar. A fine example of fair and balanced reporting. Perhaps you should look for work with Fox News or one of the many Newscorp entities. I hear Rupert could use someone like you right about now...
ReplyDeleteNot that I know anything about this, but a birdy told me you would need to be a voice/telco admin and change the pw on the vm box. Would be extremely difficult if not impossible to do it from the outside (as a standard user).
ReplyDeleteSuch a good ride report, it is almost like I rode it twice.
ReplyDeleteBobby is a good boy.
ReplyDeleteI can finally post from my pc now.
Though, I never tried too hard to figure out the problem...
Nice to see another contributing member on the blog, not nearly as important as having you on the ride of course.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the quick RR NoCar. Sounds like a great night. You all will be glad to know that I only ordered my tacos in increments of two but the Mrs. got some crap from the bitches when she ordered a Sierra and Burger. What can I say, the handless family walks their own path, and sometimes, even blazes it.
You guys looked like you might be blazing.
ReplyDeleteThanks car-Less! I'm glad I wasn't the only one with a similar observation...
ReplyDeleteRight, it was a wet ride, for the little spot where we got our socks wet. had nothing to do with the pitchers of PeeBeRs.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a beautiful night, though. Big moon, empty roads, and tunes humming from B's new phone.
SB-KW additional update. The NoHandle family and 4 others backpacked down from somewhere near the Pack Saddle Pass turn-off near Silver Fork. Short hike down to Caples Creek/Silver Fork drainage. All was dry and free of snow. B/NoCar, we actaully took the same single track down from the ridge into the drainage. From there the backpackers wen up stream from the sign post where we took the down stream route. Once that 8000+ snow melts off it is game on. Saw a few bikes down there.
ReplyDelete